A little honest insight about the World Series champion San Francisco Giants (2010, 2012, 2014) from a blog that ranked in the Top 100 of MLB.com Fan Blogs of 2012-14

San Francisco Giants Friday Farm Report 5/18

It’s easy to look at the numbers of the players hitting in the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate and wonder why the big club hasn’t called them up.

Yet every player the Giants have called on this season has seen a significant drop-off from their Triple-A’s number. This can be expected because there’s a huge difference between Triple-A pitching and big-league pitching.

But you also have to consider Triple-A’s players play in hitter-friendly Chukchansi Park in Fresno, as well as other hitter-friendly parks in the PCL.

Taken those two facts together, and you can expect to see a significant drop in production.

Joaquin Arias had a slash line of .400/.432/.557 at Fresno. With the Giants, he’s at .250/.311/.321.

Connor Gillaspie was at .364/.417/.545 at Fresno. In San Francisco, it was .150/.150/.200. In Gillaspie’s first game back at Fresno since being demoted last week, he went 2 for 5 with a two-run home run.

And now we have Charlie Culberson: .284/.320/.496 in Fresno. With the Giants, it’s .111/.111/.111.

File those Triple-A numbers under the grain-of-salt file.

Triple-A Fresno

IF Brock Bond: In the days since Culberson was called up to the big club, Bond has gone 8 for 15 with three walks. He’s now hitting .395 for the season with a .473 OBP. Bond, who was playing 3B, is playing 2B now that Gillaspie is back.

IF Nick Noonan: Noonan is playing SS in Fresno, but has played other infield positions. He’s riding a 12-game hitting streak and is hitting .317 with a .370 OBP and .407 SLG.

OF Justin Christian: After cooling off a bit from his hot start, Christian is hot again, hitting safely in his past 10 games. He’s at .383/.451/.578 for the season.

RP Heath Hembree: Hembree had his first blow-up outing on Monday, giving up five runs (three earned) on one hit and two walks in 1/3 of an inning, bumping his season ERA to 3.77.

RP Dan Otero: Otero was sent down when the Giants needed to make some roster moves in late April. Since then, he’s 2-1 with 6.23 ERA at Fresno.

Double-A Richmond

3B Daniel Mayora: The 26-year-old Mayora leads Richmond in hitting at .314, but has very little power and has committed 14 errors.

C Tommy Joseph: Joseph continues to make improvements at the plate. He 7 for 18 over his past five games, raising his season average to .250.

OF Gary Brown: Not much new to report on the Giants’ top prospect. He’s hitting .237 on the season with a .322 OBP. He’s starting to figure the stolen base thing, swiping 10 in 13 attempts. But he was also 1 for 6 with three whiffs in Richmond’s 14-inning 1-0 win over Harrisburg Thursday.

LHP Michael Kickham: Kickham had his best start of the year Saturday vs. Bowie, pitching 6.1 scoreless innings, giving up six hits and no walks.

RHP Chris Heston: Heston continues to be the most impressive starter in Richmond. He threw eight shutout innings Thursday vs. Harrisburg. He has not allowed an earned run in his last three starts and only one in his past five starts. He has an 0.71 ERA and 0.85 WHIP in 50.2 IP.

Class A San Jose

OF Ryan Lollis: The 25-year-old Lollis leads San Jose in hitting with a .330/.395/.470 slash line. He’s 10 for 24 over his past 6 games.

SS Joe Panik: Slowly but surely, Panik is starting to get his cold start turned around. He’s 6 for 24 over the past week (6 games), but with only one strikeout (He fanned 13 times in his first 29 games). His season line is at .247/.343/.313.

LP Jack Snodgrass: Snodgrass improved to 5-1 with 1.69 ERA with two wins in the past week. He has 34 Ks and 11 BB in 48 IPs.

SP Seth Rosin: The 6-6 rightie added two more saves with a couple of hitless innings in the past week. He has eight saves, recording one in each of his last five outings. He has a 2.45 ERA with 23 Ks and 5 BB in 14.2 IP this season.

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